One Step Backwards
by Chalkboard.Skyscraper
Summary: "If you had the chance to change your past, would you? Would you refuse the opportunity, or would you grasp it?"  I don't own the Vampire Diaries, all rights go to L.J. Smith!
1. Chapter 1

**The Vampire Diaries: One Step Backwards**

**Prologue**

When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. If you had the chance to change your past, would you? Would you refuse the opportunity, or would you grasp it? Would you walk away knowing you wouldn't have done a thing differently, or would you be forever tormented by the idea of what could have been?


	2. Chapter 2

**The Vampire Diaries: One Step Backwards**

**Chapter One**

One wintry day, Stefan Salvatore hurried along the street, glancing anxiously over his shoulder. Why had he been so ignorant as to come back here? He knew he would be followed, that was true, but he had thought this might have been the one place his 'shadow' could not be, could not survive. There was too much pain; too much history held in this town to harbor them both. If one came, the other could not. At least that was what Stefan thought. He was more than disappointed to find that he was not correct in his assumptions. He turned, just in time to see an abnormally large crow staring at him, its cold, black eyes piercing and sinister. But deep within the depths of those eyes, Stefan could see a hint of humor. As Stefan expected, a voice came from the shadows, mocking him.

"Well, well Brother, I see you couldn't leave this place alone. Did you miss home? I hate to disappoint you, but Father isn't here to welcome you; you, the good child who never did anything wrong. I'm sure if Father were even still alive, you would not receive a very kind greeting, being what you are."

"At least I did not betray him, Damon. Although, I believe he did deserve it, seeing how he fed me lies for years." Stefan replied angrily. "Even though I was the one to end him, it was partially his fault. If he had not come at me like that….." Stefan winced as the painful memory shot through his mind. At the time, he had felt no remorse for what he had done to his father, but now that he had let his emotions back in, the shame was almost as powerful as the feeling of satisfaction; maybe his father had gotten what he deserved.

"Ah, Brother, you are always such a downer! You need to learn to lighten up; move on, what's done is done and all that. Isn't that how the saying goes?" Damon smirked, falling gracefully from the branch he had been perched upon. Stefan glared at him, turning to walk away. Naturally, Damon caught up, falling into step with him.

"While we are on the subject of the past," Damon began, "I've been doing some…well, let's call it research. You remember Emily, correct?"

Stefan stopped walking, turning towards his brother. He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Yes? What about her?"

"Well, it turns out she may have found a way for us to become human again. I know what you are thinking; how is this possible?" Damon continued, sounding like a desperate salesman. "Apparently witches can not only meddle in the present, they can wreak havoc in the past as well."

"Damon, I don't think I like where you are going with this; what exactly will Emily be doing for us?"

"Oh, you know, just a simple time-travel spell; nothing to be concerned with." Stefan stared at his brother in disbelief; was he crazy? He must have lost it.

"Damon," Stefan began, "I don't think this is a good idea. Messing with time is kind of a dangerous practice, I assume?" Damon rolled his eyes.

"Brother you worry too much. Besides, I would think someone with a past such as yours would be jumping at any chance to correct his mistakes."

Stefan frowned, but said nothing. As much as he longed to deny it, he did have a lot of mistakes he could correct. He could've saved Rosalyn, his father, and even himself. He loathed the monster he had become, but most of all, he felt anger towards the one who had made him this way: Katherine. She was the reason the innocent girl he was supposed to have wed was dead, the reason so many other lives were lost. If only he could have done something differently. If only…

Damon, of course, caught Stefan thinking his plan over. He grinned, knowing he had been successful. Now all that was left was to get Emily to agree to his plan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Thank you to all who reviewed on the first chapter, I really appreciate it! And just to clarify, this is a bit of a combonation between the book series and the TV show, with most of the plot sticking to the Stefan Diaries book (the first one), but I needed a witch, so I took Emily from the TV show. Also, don't expect anything currently happening in the TV series to be in here; I haven't watched any of season 3 yet...**

**So without further ado, here is Chapter 2!**

**Chapter Two**

All of the pieces of his plan were falling into place. Damon had successfully convinced his brother that traveling back in time was a good idea. Now, all he needed was to get that stubborn witch to agree to perform the spell. He knew she would be hesitant to do such a huge favor for him, but he also knew that it wouldn't be all that difficult to convince her. As soon as he did, he would be one step closer to getting Katherine back. If his ignorant brother hadn't fallen for their father's trickery, Katherine would have still been with them, still with Damon. He still resented his brother for his actions; it was entirely his fault that she was taken away from the two brothers. Damon had decided that for his actions, his dear brother would be paying dearly.

"Damon, are you sure Emily will be willing to do this for us? I mean, it is not like she owes us any courtesies. Quite the contrary, actually; we owe her our lives." Stefan said, dodging a low-hanging tree branch as the two brothers sped through the forest.

"Don't fret, Brother. I have ways of getting her to do what I want." Damon grinned menacingly, but with a hint of humor. Stefan just looked alarmed.

"Damon! After all she has done for us! You will not threaten Emily." Stefan replied, his tone heavy in disapproval. Damon laughed, but otherwise ignored his brother.

Just then, the two finally arrived at small cottage. The tiny building was blanketed with a thick coat of moss, and it looked as if it were centuries old. Damon strolled his way confidently up the cobblestone path, while Stefan followed warily behind. Damon paused when he reached the door, knocking once. When granted no response, he grasped the doorknob and yanked it off cleanly, kicking down the door with his foot. Stefan looked at him questionably, but Damon just shrugged and continued to stroll through the now open doorway. Upon making it four steps inside, Damon's body jerked, and Stefan watched as he fell to his knees, grasping his head and wailing in pain.

"Damon?" Stefan said as he scrambled to help his brother. Damon turned his head to look at his brother.

"Behind you." Damon sputtered, obviously struggling to speak as he winced in pain. Stefan whirled around, just in time to see a figure standing behind them in the doorway.

"Stefan? What are you doing here?" Emily looked surprised to see Stefan, but her eyes grew cold as her gaze shifted to Damon.

"Damon, I have already told you; I owe you nothing. I will not grant you any favors, nor will I be tricked into doing so." Emily told him angrily. Damon glared up at her.

"Well could you at least stop with the witchy-torture business? I would sure appreciate it." He spat sarcastically. Emily glared at Damon, but released him from the spell. He collapsed on the floor, panting. Emily turned to Stefan, now ignoring Damon.

"Stefan, although it is a pleasure to see you again, you are not helping Damon, are you? His plan is of the utmost evil, I assure you. Time travel is a dark practice; one small change to the past can cause a catastrophic chain of events." Emily spoke in hushed tones, even though she knew Damon could hear her. Stefan nodded in response, but knew he owed his brother, so continued to try and persuade her.

"Emily," Stefan began, "what if you were to send us back in time, and we changed something? How much would that really effect the present?" Emily shook her head.

"No Stefan. You don't seem to understand; even if it were just something small, how would you know for sure how significant that event was to history? What if changing it caused the very fabrics of time to be irrevocably altered, most likely for the worse?" She replied sternly. Though he knew what she was saying was true, he still pressed on.

"Then you could watch us, Emily, to make sure we don't make the wrong choices. If we do, you bring us back." He countered, making an attempt at a compromise. Emily paused, considering her options.

"Well," She started hesitantly, "I suppose there is no harm in trying. However, as soon as I see you meddling somewhere you shouldn't be, you are back here. Is that clear?"

Stefan grinned in triumph. "Thank you, Emily. Although Damon will not say it, I know he is grateful as well."

"Humph!" Damon snorted, now absent-mindedly flipping through a worn, ancient novel. He snapped it shut and carelessly tossed it onto a shelf. "So how does this work, anyways?"

"Simple." Emily replied, sliding another thick volume off of a shelf. She skimmed through the fragile pages, and when she found what she was looking for, she stabbed a finger at the page. The brothers came to look over her shoulder, squinting at the tiny scrawl on the page.

"So what is it supposed to say?" Damon asked arrogantly, "All I see is a jumbled mess."

Emily rolled her eyes. "To you, it says nothing. To me, it is the key to getting you where you want to go." She replied. "Stefan, could you grab those candles over there?" Stefan complied, reaching over the table to scoop the candles into his hands.

"Good. Now place them evenly around the room, placing four in the center of the table."

Once the candles were in place, Emily closed her eyes and began to mumble a strange, unknown language under her breath. Almost immediately, the candles lit by themselves. Stefan and Damon stood patiently, waiting for further instruction. After a long while, Emily opened her eyes, looking at the brothers.

"Good. Now could one of you please write the down the time period you want to go back to on this piece of paper here?" She shoved a pen and paper towards Stefan. He quickly jotted down _1864_ onto it, and handed it back to her. Emily crumpled it, and tossed it upon the candle's flame. Emily continued to recite the spells, and soon enough Stefan started to notice the room start to transform. The drab and flimsy curtains became luxurious, flowing fabrics; the splintered wooden floor becoming polished, cold marble. The tiny fireplace became a massive staircase, and Stefan noticed his tattered shirt became a perfectly tailored suit.

"Stefan?" A voice called. Stefan turned, and for the first time in a long time, saw his father staring back at him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay, but here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter 4**

"Stefan, what are you doing down here?" Giuseppe frowned. "You must be getting ready for the Founder's Day ball! You know as well as I that Lady Katherine does not stand for waiting around."

"I apologize, Father, I will get ready at once." Stefan stammered, slightly dazed. His father gave him a strange look, but otherwise turned away and walked towards his study. Climbing the staircase, Stefan ran his hand against the smooth surface of the railing. It had been ages since he had been anywhere this fine, and he savored ever y minute of it.

After stepping into his room, Stefan glanced around until he spotted what he was looking for: a handsome new suit intended for tonight's Founder's Day Ball. He slipped it on and hurried out of the room, knowing that Katherine would be waiting for him. Little did she know that he had big plans for tonight, ones she wouldn't expect even in her wildest dreams. Stefan mentally cursed Emily for bringing them back to this night; he was both too late to save Rosalyn and he would have to face Katherine sooner than he had expected. Hopefully he would have Damon to back him up.

Stefan returned to the entry and waited impatiently for Katherine's arrival. While he waited, Stefan planned his revenge. Exposing Katherine would only get him killed, but there were ways he could make sure she never found out it was him. Suddenly, Stefan came up with the most brilliant plan, one that would surely cause trouble for Katherine.

"Stefan?" A voice called. Stefan turned to see Katherine standing at the top of the stairs. She smiled sweetly at him, and hurried down the stairs to grab his hand.

"Come on!" She said, "We mustn't be late, I am sure your father would not approve of tardiness." Stefan faked a smile as he followed her lead out the door.

Not once had his brother's location crossed his mind. Little did Stefan know that Damon had plans of his own; shockingly, he was planning something that would make Stefan's little exposure of Katherine look like a silly children's prank. However, if he succeeded, he would not only help himself, but Stefan could get his wish as well.

**Again, it is a little short, but it needed to end here, so there you go! Reviews are appreciated, and let me know what you think Damon is up to... :)**


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